Roar Rampage

Regardless of how many games you may have stuffed onto your iPhone and iPad over the years, we can almost guarantee you've never played anything quite like Roar Rampage, the new game from FDG Entertainment, creators of the recently released Banana Kong.

It's a 2D side-scrolling game, with art and music from the 16-bit era, that stars you as a ferocious Godzilla-like creature heading out on a rampage through civilization. Your weapon of choice in this orgy of destruction is the punching arm of the giant lizard, and it's a multi-jointed limb that flails around the screen in response to your finger-swipes, demolishing buildings bit by bit, and tearing up a series of city, jungle and industrialized stages.

Of course humanity's not about to just let you ride roughshod over civilization, and so the game throws plenty of obstacles in your way. Military helicopters swarm in and fire at you, and you'll need to deftly bat away missiles and bullets with your boxing glove - miss too many of these and you'll have to restart the level. Later on you'll have to deal with angry natives who swing through the jungle in arcs, as well as tribesman who throw parabolic spears through the air.

Fortunately, and with a well-aimed swing, you can destroy the assailants and send them hurtling into upcoming danger at the same time. You can even grab pieces of the scenery from time to time, allowing you to swing monorail carriages around like a giant whip, or jab away at buildings with the remains of a lamp-post.

Once you've exhausted the many levels of the campaign, you can head into an endless mode, complete with the now-obligatory mission system - travel so far in a single game, gather so many gems in one run, or destroy a fixed number of enemies for example. It's familiar territory but it takes in some fun locations around the world, complete with famous landmarks such as Big Ben during your rampage through London.

While you're making your way through each level you can also grab gems that appear from out of the carnage. Pick up enough of these and you can add a few cosmetic upgrades to your creature, from sunglasses to top hats. Some of these are very expensive though, and it's a bit of a shame that there's a cash gem shop tacked onto this premium App Store game.

Our recommendation for Roar Rampage isn't entirely unqualified then, and that punching arm can be a touch unwieldy and unresponsive too - you'll experience the occasional moments of frustration as you try to swipe away at the remaining chunk of a building you've become stuck on. It's a system that works for the most part though, and there's so much fun to be had here that you'll forgive the game its minor stumbles.

With its art, music, originality, and sheer destructive fun, Roar Rampage scores big points with us. It's a little on the easy side, and once you've mastered the core mechanics of the game you shouldn't encounter too many false starts, but every moment you spend with the game is packed with deliciously daft fun. Make this part of your mobile gaming this weekend.